Chapter Twenty-Three: Leverage Help:

-Present Day-

Two days later, Hisoka’s phone rang. “Hello?” he asked.

“Bon!” Watari said on the other line. “Just the person I needed to talk to!”

“What do you have?” Hisoka asked.

“What would you like first?”

Hisoka weighed his options in his head. “Tell me about Hikaru first.”

“Alright. Hikaru took days to look up.”

“And?”

“His file is locked.”

“Locked?”

“It took me all night to unlock the file.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s a strange case. His soul isn’t anywhere, but he certainly is dead.”

“How did he die?” Hisoka tried to figure out these new bits of information.

“It doesn’t say, but he died ten years ago.”

“I see,” Hisoka said. “Is there anything else on him?”

“Not much,” Watari replied. “He was pretty much a normal guy. He lived with his mother, had decent grades, friends, and a part time job as a delivery boy at an udon shop.”

“I see. What about Old Blu?”

“That’s the thing. I can’t find any records on him.”

Hisoka’s eyes widened. “That can’t be right.”

“That’s my thought too. I kept looking and came up with nothing. Does he have any other names?”

“No…” Then, an idea entered Hisoka’s head. Wait, that could work.

“Tell me, can you locate Hikaru’s soul?” he asked.

“No, I can’t,” Watari answered. The other shinigami did some thinking over the phone. Now, it makes sense. He remembered that Jade wore another big jewel in her messy brown hair. He could’ve sworn he heard it crying. Of course! That makes sense!

“Never mind,” he said. “I know where it is. I just have one more question.”

“What’s that?” Watari asked. Hisoka clutched his phone.

“How do I extract a trapped soul?” he asked.

“What?” Watari asked back.

“Let’s say a soul is trapped somewhere like a jewel or something.”

“Right…”

“How would I get it out?”

Watari began to see the meaning over the phone. “Do you know exactly where Hikaru’s soul is?”

“I have an idea.”

“Okay. Is Tsuzuki with you right now?”

“He’s asleep. Why do you ask?”

“You’re really going to need him to make this spell work. He has more power and experience.”

Hisoka frowned at the idea. “So he’s going to be my support?”

“You can say that.”

The other shinigami sighed. “Fine, I’ll get him up.” Hisoka turned in the hotel room and shook his partner on the bed.

“Wake up,” he whispered. “Watari wants to talk to you.” Tsuzuki woke up, mumbling.

“What?” he grumbled. Hisoka put his phone on speaker.

“Okay,” he said. “Tell us the spell.”

“You ready?” Watari asked.

“Yes!” Hisoka said. “Tell us what to do.”

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Meanwhile, Jade stroked the big bright pearl-colored jewel that held her hair back in a ponytail. As long as she had Hikaru’s soul, Jessie was under her thumb. Speaking of which, it was time to finish this game. Jade took another sip of her sake and headed back into her stadium.